Kinetics and mechanism of dehydration of kaolinite, muscovite and talc analyzed thermogravimetrically by the third-law method

Summary

The third-law method has been applied to determine the enthalpies, Δ_r H _T ⁰, for dehydration reactions of kaolinite, muscovite and talc. The Δ_r H _T ⁰values measured in the equimolar (in high vacuum) and isobaric (in the presence of water vapour) modes (980±15, 3710±39 and 2793±34 kJ mol^-1, for kaolinite, muscovite and talc, respectively) practically coincide if to take into account the strong self-cooling effect in vacuum. This fact strongly supports the mechanism of dissociative evaporation of these compounds in accordance with the reactions (primary stages): Al₂O₃·2SiO₂·2H₂O(s)→Al₂O₃(g)↓+2SiO₂(g)↓+2H₂O(g); K₂O·3Al₂O₃·6SiO₂·2H₂O(s) →K₂O(g)↓+3Al₂O₃(g)↓+6SiO₂(g)↓+2H₂O(g) and 3MgO·4SiO₂·H₂O(s) →3MgO(g)↓+4SiO₂(g)↓+H₂O(g). The values of the Eparameter deduced from these data for equimolar and isobaric modes of dehydration are as follows: 196 and 327 kJ mol^-1for kaolinite, 309 and 371 kJ mol^-1for muscovite and 349 and 399 kJ mol^-1for talc. These values are in agreement with quite a few early results reported in the literature in 1960s.